Karen Fitzgibbon,
soprano
Alan Hicks, piano
Wesley Music Centre,
Forrest November 13
Reviewed by Len Power
In a program that turned out to be a fascinating history
lesson as well as an afternoon of glorious singing, Karen Fitzgibbon and Alan
Hicks presented songs by Manuel del Popolo Garcia, two of his daughters and one
of his grandchildren. Before singing a selection
of their songs, Karen Fitzgibbon gave a detailed history of each of these
family members who all had very active careers in the music and opera worlds as
singers and composers in the 19th century.
Karen Fitzgibbon is an engaging performer with a winning
smile and a beautiful soprano voice. Her
choice of songs was a good showcase for her.
Of the songs by the patriarch of the family, Manuel Garcia,
‘Es corridor!’ was delightfully sung with a humorous undertone and with ‘Je
t’aimerai’ and ‘L’Absence’ Fitzgibbon gave us a strong emotional and
contrasting sense of the joy and sadness of love. ‘Parad!’ had a haunting quality and was
sweetly sung. They were all accompanied
superbly by Alan Hicks.
 |
| Alan Hicks and Karen Fitzgibbon - Photo by Peter Hislop |
Garcia’s daughter, Maria Malibran, was a famous opera singer
in her day who composed songs as well.
The high notes of ‘Il silfo’ were sung thrillingly and apparently
effortlessly by Fitzgibbon and she brought a chilling sadness to ‘La Visita
della Morte’, a song that seemed to predict Maria Mallibran’s early death at
28.
The songs of Maria Mallibran’s sister, Pauline
Viardot-Garcia, gave Fitzgibbon the opportunity to cover a wide range of
emotions. ’Moriro’ and ‘Cancion de la
infanta’ were sung with great feeling and the accompaniment by Alan Hicks of
the latter song was especially fine.
The last part of the program showcased songs by Louise
Heritte-Viardot, Pauline’s eldest child.
Fitzgibbon gave a fine performance of ‘Sehnsuch’, bringing out a strong
sense of yearning, the theme of the song.
 |
| Karen Fitzgibbon - Photo by Peter Hislop |
An encore of ‘Madrid’ by Pauline Viardot-Garcia brought this
memorable concert to a rousing close.
This review was first published in the Canberra City News digital edition on Monday 14 November. Len Power’s reviews
are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 ‘Artcetera’ program from 9.00am on
Saturdays.
